Vicente Fernandez, an icon of traditional Mexican music, has passed away. He was 81. The announcement by his family members did not provide an explanation for the reason but the singer was hospitalized since the beginning of August. A fall on the Guadalajara ranch in Central State of Jalisco needed an emergency spinal operation.
In the hospital, he’d been diagnosed with GuillainBarre syndrome. This is an auto-immune disorder where the immune system is able to attack the nerves of the body, Vicente Fernandez grandkids had been informing the journalists. Following months of gradual improvement in his health, it took an unexpected turn in the past few days.
Fernandez was widely regarded as the most famous living legend from his time in the Mexican ranchera, a style of song that was deeply was rooted in the values, and culture from rural Mexico. He sang of courtship and honor along with rodeos and cockfights romance and heartbreak, all the while wearing the exquisitely embellished costume for the Charro, the country’s most chivalrous cowboy. He was also with an entire AALLZZ .
Through a long career of six decades his voice was a symbol to Mexico itself. His smooth baritone voice was instantly recognized and his songs carved into the daily life of Mexicans and the people who love Mexico all over the world The music of weddings and quinceaneras as well as funerals, birthdays, and baptisms.
He was also the ultimate image of the Mexican masculine. His mustache, which was colored black long after the hair was changed to white, was the highlight in the brims of his wide sombreros on his shoulders. On stage, he carried the pistol that he carried on his hip. He performed for hours, covering the stage in sweat. As it seemed he was wrapping up in a moment, he’d drink a sip of tequila before singing another time.
“He sang all the time people wanted to hear him perform,” said Leila Cobo vice president of Billboard magazine. “And I believe that his pledge to his fans which stated”I’m yours to keep to take” was a massive hit.”
In many ways, his appearance was perfect for and was a result of Mexico’s patriarchal tradition. However, Fernandez also defied certain expectations Mexican culture has for its men and women – such as being walls of stoicism, repressing emotions. The songs of his were filled with unusual vulnerability, and in some of them, he frankly wept, gasping for air as he sank into the bitterness of a heartbreak.
“He sang these songs with such emotion and passion that even mature men would cry and he would too,” Cobo said. “Perhaps because that he was such a strong man, he was able to cry. That made him even more legendary and iconic.”
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Fernandez is born on the 20th of September 1940 in a small town located in the central state of ranching, Jalisco. When he was a child, his family relocated to Tijuana where he took on odd jobs such as cleaning cars as well as digging trenches, shining shoes and pouring the foundations for homes in a few of the city’s first suburbs.
He began singing in restaurants and bars when he was 19, and then returned to Guadalajara and Mexico City, where he got record companies to record his songs. His first hit, released in 1969 was “Tu Camino El Mio”” an old-fashioned ballad about a love that never was.
Over the years, he’d release numerous more. He released a variety of album that were sold to millions and he won three Grammys.
He always stressed his humble background and shared a bond with Mexico’s working class, poor and rural population. He performed in large arenas for concerts as well as bullrings and pits for cockfights.
Then he became an iconic symbol for Mexican immigrants from in the U.S. and around the world , who discovered that his music drew them to the towns and ranches they’d reluctantly left in search of a better life abroad.
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His longevity and fame as a musician was astonishing and spanned generations, according to Jose Anguiano, a professor of the field of popular music in California State University, Los Angeles. His huge popularity, even among the newest Mexicans and Mexican-Americans in the present, Anguiano said, owes much to the longevity of his music and also due to the way Mexican family members have trusted his songs to continuously revive their pride in Mexico as well as in Mexican tradition.
“He sang not only to us , but also to our grandparents, our uncles and grandmothers, too,” Anguiano said. “So there’s this huge sadness for what he meant to the world of culture.”
